Discussion

Pork belly with mui choi-梅菜扣肉

Does anyone have a good pork belly with mui choi (梅菜扣肉) recipe that includes tea leaves? Back in October, I was in China and tried a different version of pork belly and mui choi that had tea leaves in it. It gave it a twist in flavour and tastier. I think it was a black tea that they used based on the flavours but I can't be sure. I can't remember if we had it in Nanjing or Hanzhou, we went to 10 cities on our trip.

I really don't know if it was braised with the meat and mui choi or if it was placed afterwards. When the dish came out, everything was mixed all together. I guessed I should have asked at the time. Anyways, if anyone has an idea or hint, let me know. I guess I'll just have to make batches and batches of pork belly for the next few months. I'm sure hubs won't object to pork fat =)

It's definitely with black tea leaves, it's the only kind strong enough for cooking. You have to marinate it for hours for the flavors to be deep enough. Marinate it overnight then braise. Tea leaves are a popular spice in Northern China cusine. Don't use tea bags, have to get the actual loose leaves, not the tea "dust."